Back in April, I performed at Cheltenham Poetry Festival. I was asked to do Cheltenham PF in 2016 but I was too shy about the ‘how to’ and waited on emails, leaving it too late to secure the booking for the 2017 Festival. So I had the pleasure of being in the 2018 Programme instead. Booked way in advance (as these things are), I was gutted when an email from Jill Abram popped up in the inbox asking me to be part of the V.Press Stablemates in London, and of all the dates – YES, you guessed it – 26th April when I was already booked for Cheltenham. Clashes. They will be the undoing of me!

Still, I was very excited to be part of CPF and very much looked forward to it for months.

I arrived at Smokey Joe’s in time to see the INDIGO DREAMS SHOWCASE and get a pre-launch preview of Anna’s new collection (her 5th) ‘Ghosting for Beginners’.

NINA LEWIS – FRAGILE HOUSES
PLUS PETER MCDADE, GUESTS AND OPEN MIC
9-10.30 pm, Smokey Joe’s‘In our family, minds go missing’. Nina Lewis writes, in one of a series of moving andpoignant poems about family life from Fragile Houses (V. Press), a pamphlet commendedfor its ‘tremendous warmth and descriptive power’. In this highly praised volume NinaLewis explores the people, places and memories carried through life and deftlyexamines the human condition through the lens of family relationships.

Nina is joined by Peter McDade – expect deliciously surreal, and thought- provoking poetry from this talented and erudite poet who has drawn comparisons with Ivor Cutler. This event also includes an open mic. Come and share your poems on the subject of home.

I was incredibly nervous, but had worked on a perfect story arc set and despite a mass exodus to the bar in between events, people came back. I thoroughly enjoyed getting Fragile Houses to new ears and it was a pleasure to be back in the venue reading. There were a few last minute additions to the night, poetry from another IDP poet- Ben Ray, who joined Peter & I with a set of poetry before the open mic.

It was a wonderful evening of poetry and afterwards, on a complete high I joined Neil Richards (who performed in the first event of the evening, which I was sadly stuck in traffic for) and Ruth Williams in a pub where we were joined by Elvis!